Iraq: U.S. Regime Change Efforts and Post-Saddam Governance

Abstract

Operation Iraqi Freedom accomplished a long-standing U.S. objective, the overthrow of Saddam Hussein, but replacing his regime with a stable, moderate, democratic political structure has run into significant difficulty. That outcome would contribute to preventing Iraq from becoming a sanctuary for terrorists, a key recommendation of the 9/11 Commission report (Chapter 12, Section 2). During the 1990s, U.S. efforts to covertly change the regime failed because of limited U.S. commitment, disorganization of the Iraqi opposition, and the vigilance of Iraq's several overlapping security services. Previous U.S. Administrations had ruled out a U.S. military invasion to change the regime, believing such action would be risky and that Iraq did not necessarily pose a level of threat that would justify doing so. President George W. Bush characterized Iraq as a grave potential threat to the United States because of its refusal to abandon its weapons of mass destruction (WMD) programs and its potential to transfer WMD to terrorist groups. After a November 2002-March 2003 round of U.N. WMD inspections in which Iraq s cooperation was mixed, on March 19, 2003, the United States launched Operation Iraqi Freedom to disarm Iraq and change its regime. The regime fell on April 9, 2003. In the months prior to the war, the Administration stressed that regime change through U.S.-led military action would yield benefits beyond disarmament and reduction of support for terrorism, benefits such as liberation of the Iraqi people from an oppressive regime and promotion of democracy throughout the Middle East. However, escalating resistance to the U.S.-led occupation (April 2003-June 2004) complicated U.S. efforts to quickly build democracy and to establish legitimate and effective Iraqi political and security bodies.

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Document Details

Document Type
Technical Report
Publication Date
Dec 22, 2004
Accession Number
ADA476022

Entities

People

  • Kenneth Katzman

Organizations

  • Library of Congress

Tags

Communities of Interest

  • Biomedical
  • Counter WMD
  • Energy and Power Technologies
  • Human Systems
  • Space

DTIC Thesaurus Topics

  • Agreements
  • Civil War
  • Department Of State
  • Ethnic Groups
  • Governments
  • International Law
  • International Relations
  • Iraqi-War
  • Joint Military Activities
  • Military Applications
  • Military Science
  • National Politics
  • National Security
  • Personnel Management
  • Terrorism
  • Terrorists
  • Weapons Of Mass Destruction

Fields of Study

  • Political science

Readers

  • Nuclear Non-Proliferation and International Security
  • Political Violence and Terrorism Studies.
  • Strategic Security Studies